Moderator Bio -

Dave Golden started working for the University of Minnesota, School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology in 1984 where he also discovered a love of Public Health. He was part of the Minnesota Health Health Project from 1984-1989 developing and implementing strategies to reduce cardiovascular disease in one of three cities selected as intervention sites. As the Heart Health Project intervention period ended, he moved to Boynton Health on the University of Minnesota campus and worked as a health educator. In 1998, Dave became Director of Public Health and Communications. He was an active member of APHA, MPHA (Past President), American College Health Association and North American College Health Association. He retired from the University of Minnesota after 38 action packed, fun filled years of working with some of the most wonderful people one could ever hope to have as colleagues and friends. If it's not fun, it's not Public Health!

Panelist Bios - 

Sheyanga Beecher began her career as a public health nurse in Baltimore, Maryland providing care for mothers recovering from substance use and their children. She received her Masters of Science in Nursing from Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. As a nurse practitioner, Ms. Beecher has lived and worked internationally in Haiti, Ethiopia, South Africa and Tanzania with a focus in maternal child health, community health and health system strengthening. In 2012, she began working at Hennepin Healthcare. Currently, Ms. Beecher cares for children with acute illnesses and serves as the Medical Director for the Mobile Health program which began in May of 2020. The Mobile Health program helps increase access to care to pediatric primary care and post-partum care for mothers and their and newborns. In recognition of her work with the Pediatric Mobile Health program, Ms. Beecher has won the Hennepin Healthcare Pandemic Preparedness Award, the BlueCross Blue Shield Trail Blazer Award, the Commissioner’s Circle of Excellence Awards from the Minnesota Department of Human Services, the Woman’s Health Leadership Trust for Innovation and the MDH/CDC Immunization Champion Award. Ms. Beecher co-leads the Hennepin Healthcare Department of Pediatrics Health Equity Work Group, sat on the Hennepin Healthcare Board Mission Effectiveness Committee, and is a member of the Hennepin County PICA/HeadStart Board. 

Elise Holmes is a Program Manager at the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota. She provides organizational and technical support across multiple projects and serves as a producer and researcher for the Osterholm Update and Superbugs and You podcasts. Ms. Holmes previously worked at the Minnesota Department as well as Hennepin County, leading projects related to child and family health and wellbeing. With a background in global maternal and child health, food security, and emergency preparedness, Ms. Holmes has also provided consulting and program evaluation support for projects in the U.S., Latin America, and West Africa. Ms. Holmes holds a Master's of Public Policy from the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs and a BS in Human Nutrition from the University of Illinois. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Environmental Health Sciences, focused on infectious disease risks for pregnant individuals and newborns. In addition to her role at CIDRAP, Ms. Holmes also supports the University of Minnesota’s Health Emergency Response Office and Medical Reserve Corps program.

Inari Mohammed is a research project manager in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. She works on the Illuminating and Addressing Structural Racism in the Healthcare Industry project. Before her work at the U of M, Inari was a health equity epidemiologist at the Minnesota Department of Health's Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC) Unit for 2.5 years.  Inari is passionate about health equity and centering the voices and experiences of marginalized communities in public health research and practice. She is a two-time graduate of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, having attained her MPH in 2019 and PhD in epidemiology in 2024. Her doctoral research focused on assessing vaccine hesitancy and gaps in vaccine coverage among BIPOC Minnesotans.